Review: Roald Dahl Little People Big Dreams by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara & Illustrated by Francis Martin

I had so much fun reading the Little People Big Dreams book about Andy Warhol that I just had to turn my attention to another recent release from the series, this one featuring controversial author Roald Dahl. After all, how would someone explain Roald Dahl to children--an author who was exceptionally talented, who they've most probably heard of and read some of his work already, and who in his personal life was exceptionally complicated and cruel? 

Well, somehow, author Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara does exactly that. As is an integral part of this series, she introduces the reader to the subject, this time Roald Dahl, as a child and shows how he is shaped by a childhood experience of taste testing chocolate bars and unfair school policies and how they influence his later work. She also recounts his experiences fighting in the Second World War (ending in injury) how he begins his career as a writer and ... she acknowledges that he was far from perfect and that he was anti-semitic (described in the book as saying hateful things about Jewish people) and sometimes he used his gift of shaping words to be cruel and to say unkind things about others. The book ends on a hopeful note reminding readers of the power of imagination and staying young at heart. 

The illustrations are very well done and fitting of the author.

Overall an interesting read that doesn't shy away from the fact that public figures aren't always perfect.

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